


Dive Right In

by kaisoochateau



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cisswap, Cute Girlfriends, F/F, Femslash, First Date, First Love, Flirting in the School Library, Girl Companionship!!!!!!, Jongin Is Enamored, Kyungsoo Dyes Her Hair A Lot, Meddlesome Friends, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 08:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11101035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaisoochateau/pseuds/kaisoochateau
Summary: Jongin thinks the new girl at school might have asked her out on a date. The only problem is that she’s not sure if Kyungsoo actually meant it that way, and her friends are being no help at all.





	Dive Right In

**Author's Note:**

> pairings: kai/d.o  
> word count: 13k  
> genre: fluff, comedy, romance, femslash!kaisoo  
> rating: m (for swearing, and a lot of inappropriate conversations ty girl!baekhyun)  
> warnings: very slight homophobia  
> song: [Girl Girl Girl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXwepYsovEM) \- Triple H  
> a/n: happy pride month from a very gay kaisoo author! this was meant to be a drabble um… oops. this fic is half kaisoo and half kai squabbling w her friends but i hope you still enjoy it ok bye-

  
  
  
For probably the tenth time in a span of three minutes, Jongin takes a break from incessantly tapping her foot on the floor so she can check her phone, instead.  
  
It still says 12:26PM, exactly the same as when she last looked, which means she has two hours before she needs to be ready. Somehow, though, that doesn’t make her churning chest feel any better.  
  
A few more rounds of pacing around her room and another useless flick through her hung-up shirts later, and Jongin can’t stop her restless fingers from clicking at her phone, again. But she instantly lets out a sob, the sound lost somewhere under her pounding heartbeat when she sees that she’s just wasted another two minutes.  
  
With a hopeless whine, Jongin rubs at her eyes and starts muttering out loud, trying to calm down and assure herself that she just needs to take a break and collapse for a bit, at least until her thoughts make sense, again. Except then Jongin remembers that she _can’t_ do that, because her bed, and half the floor of her room, are currently covered by mountains of crap. This morning, she didn’t even know that she _owned_ half these clothes, and after two hours of panicking, she still hasn’t managed to find a single thing she can wear.  
  
This is one of the rare times when Jongin can see the value in having Baekhyun as a friend, because she knows that some fashion advice or a mall trip with Baekhyun’s limitless credit card would fix at least _some_ of her problems. But right now, when Jongin needs her most, she can’t even let Baekhyun or anyone else in on what’s happening. That’s kind of Jongin’s own fault, though, and also a much bigger problem that she doesn’t want to be adding to her jumble of a brain, right now.  
  
Exhausted past the point of caring, Jongin trudges to her bed and flops down face-first, squirming around in the crumpled fabrics until nothing’s digging into her skin and she’s left to pout at the wall.  
  
Ironically, Baekhyun messaged the group chat with plans to drag them shopping, today, but Jongin had to say no so she could be here, wallowing in her own misery and filth. At least none of her friends should be suspicious, because half the time when Baekhyun tries to organize things, Jongin manages to sneak her way out of them, anyway. But that doesn’t make her feel any better, either.  
  
At this rate, her only chance of surviving the day is if she just cancels the whole thing. But Jongin’s knows that this might be her first and last chance to ‘hang out’ on what’s probably not a date, but still has her hopelessly romantic self making up daydreams of her and her crush feeding popcorn to each other under the dark lights of the cinema. Then there’s also the fact that Jongin’s never technically gone on a date before this - because McDonald’s after school does _not_ count, despite what her Year 9 boyfriend told her at the time. So yes, Jongin is definitely in over her head, but she’s way too stubborn and likes Kyungsoo far too much to back out, now.  
  
Letting out a pathetic wail, Jongin flips onto her other side, kicking clothes and blankets along the way so she can bury her face in the pillow. Now Jongin’s just losing time- she _knows_ she is, but what else can she do? This whole thing is looking more and more useless, and her chest is twisted in so many knots that she might actually end up bedridden, anyway.  
  
But before Jongin has the chance to spiral even further into the black hole of despair, a sharp bang has her jolting up, head whipping around to see - of all things - _Baekhyun_ storming into her room with Joonmyun and Jongdae close behind. And Jongin’s realizes that she’s still in her pyjamas, no bra on, so she scrambles to cover her chest with the nearest jumper.  
  
“Well, look who it is. What’s up, Jongin?” Baekhyun asks, but the harsh tone and the hands on her hips don’t make the question sound as casual as it should be.  
  
_Crap_ , Jongin thinks, mentally wincing. She’s in trouble, and that’s the last thing she needs right now, especially when she’s got no idea what she could have done this time. But Baekhyun has a talent for finding things to be pissy about, so Jongin’s best bet is to play innocent.  
  
“Hey guys, I- I thought you were shopping,” Jongin tries, plastering on a fake smile as Jongdae shuts the door behind them.  
  
“What are you doing?” Baekhyun demands, gesturing at the mess in her room.  
  
With a quirk of her head, Jongin blinks up at her. “Just cleaning out my old clothes,” she says.  
  
But Baekhyun just narrows her lined eyes as she struts closer, picking a red skirt off the floor along the way. “And _this_ Zara piece, that I bought you last month, is old?”  
  
“Uh- no, I’m keeping that one,” Jongin mumbles as Baekhyun stops to tower over here.  
  
“Why didn’t you tell us?” she demands, and Jongin’s chest lurches.  
  
“Tell you what?” Jongin asks, before clearing her throat and praying no one heard the squeak in her voice.  
  
“Um, hello?” Baekhyun exclaims. She twirls back to give the others a disbelieving sigh, before she whaps Jongin over the head. It’s surprisingly gentle, by Baekhyun’s standards, but Jongin still yelps. “The fact that you have a smoking hot date tonight!”  
  
“How- I don’t!” Jongin defends in her last attempt to save herself, but Baekhyun’s buying none of it.  
  
“Don’t play innocent, Jongin. I’ve already looked through the novel’s worth of secret love notes you’ve got stuffed in your bag.” Jongin’s stomach flips, her head starting to race and pound. “So no more lying, okay? I know _everything_ ,” she accuses, poking Jongin on the nose, who swats her away.  
  
“You _looked through my bag_?” Jongin hisses.  
  
“Because I was worried!” Baekhyun exclaims, flailing her arms. “Because I wanted to find out why my best friend was acting all secretive with me! And over a crush that I could have _totally_ been helping you with? I’m hurt, Jongin, seriously. We _all_ are, aren’t we?” Baekhyun asks, looking behind her for backup.  
  
That she doesn’t get. Jongdae’s got her arms crossed and the same grimace that she always has when Baekhyun speaks, while Joonmyun’s just awkwardly hanging back, with a wide-eyed expression that’s begging not to be dragged into this. The only strange thing is that Zitao’s not here, but Jongin doesn’t have time to dwell on that because Baekhyun turns back to cut her a wounded look.  
  
“I’m sorry, okay? But I had to,” Baekhyun sighs out. “Why didn’t you tell us?”  
  
Sucking in a breath, Jongin’s still scrambling to remember what was on those notes Baekhyun saw, if there were names, giveaways, anything. But Jongin’s got no idea, so she has to keep it vague. “I just... I was shy. I didn’t want to bring it up.”  
  
“Because it’s with Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun asks, making Jongin automatically tense, fists balling into the jumper she’s holding up. “Hey, we’re all cool with it, promise.”  
  
“Are you actually?” Jongin asks, the words sour and disbelieving.  
  
“Of course! We’re not douches!” Baekhyun insists, whapping her on the head, again.  
  
Checking the others’ reactions, Jongin only sees a kind smile on Joonmyun’s face, and gets a thumbs up from Jongdae. Well, that’s surprising, and it would be a giant relief, but Jongin’s not going to let herself relax yet.  
  
“Come _on_ , you can trust us!” Baekhyun drawls out, bouncing onto the bed next to her. “Now give us all the deets!”  
  
“What deets?” Jongin snaps as she tries to wrestle her jumper out of Baekhyun’s grip.  
  
“Like when did it all start!” Baekhyun squeals, a giant grin on her face. “You never get crushes, so I need to know everything!”  
  
“Yeah, c’mon, Nini. Start spilling,” Jongdae demands as she takes a seat next to Baekhyun, with Joonmyun settling at the foot of the bed.  
  
“I-” Jongin can’t help but let out a soft giggle, her eyes stinging from how overwhelmed she feels right now. “I don’t know what to say.”  
  
“Oh my god, please don’t start crying on us,” Baekhyun begs. “I don’t want to deal with another _Boys Over Flowers_ waterworks show.”  
  
“Shut up,” Jongin sniffs out, quickly wiping her face with the back of her hand. “That was one time.”  
  
“Do you want a tissue?” Joonmyun gently offers, but Jongin shakes her blubbery head.  
  
“Poor Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun sighs. “Probably has no idea she’s going on a date with such a baby.”  
  
“It’s not even a date,” Jongin mumbles, her voice bitter and unsteady, but Baekhyun only snorts.  
  
“Oh trust me, it’s a date,” Baekhyun assures, reaching over to ruffle Jongin’s unstyled hair. “And I totally called this, you guys.”

 

 

♥

 

  
  
Jongin didn’t always know that she liked girls.  
  
For the first 16 years of her life, Jongin had just assumed that she was a late-bloomer, like all of her ex-friends used to say. She was the last in her group to start wearing a bra, to start liking clothes, make-up, rom coms- all those things that Jongin didn’t realize she’d have to pretend to enjoy if she wanted to keep them around. But when it came to boys and gushing over _Super Junior_ members, Jongin couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose, completely disinterested by the whole ‘crush’ thing, whether it was real people or celebrities.  
  
Luckily, guys never paid much attention to her. Jongin’s always been gangly and awkwardly tall for her age, with no curves at all, so she’s been no one’s first pick. But eventually, Jongin’s friends took matters into their own hands and picked out a guy for her, insisting that he was cute when Jongin just thought that he had stupid hair. Since she couldn’t stomach doing anything more than holding hands, there weren’t many McDonald’s dates for her to suffer through, and Jongin was relieved when he broke it off over KKTalk.  
  
Jongin got pretty sick of her friends calling her a prude after that, so the second they moved up to high school, she started sitting on her own. It didn’t take long before Baekhyun, who Jongin always assumed was part of the popular group, decided to take her under her wing. Add in the quiet Joonmyun and the rebellious Jongdae, and Jongin’s been stuck in this mismatched group ever since.  
  
Honestly, Jongin didn’t feel the need to worry about her attraction to the opposite sex not kicking in yet, but that was before she became friends with Baekhyun, who can never shut up about the guys she’s sleeping with. And just when Jongin was starting to think that a part of her came defective, Baekhyun went and dragged her straight into the depths of the _Girl’s Generation_ fandom, and the years of nothing started to make a lot more sense.  
  
So, when a new girl transferred to their school that year, and Jongin caught sight of her in between the bookshelves in the library, the way her heart stopped didn’t come as a total shock.  
  
Not many people at their school dyed their hair lighter than a medium brown, but the first time Jongin saw her, this girl was blonde, her hair shoulder-length and that brassy yellow color that comes from a bad bleaching job- at least that’s what Baekhyun always says. But she still stole Jongin’s breath away with her gentle features, with her thick lips and her pretty eyes, the way she mouthed along to what she was reading and her eyebrows pinched together in concentration. Jongin had to be staring for a full minute before the girl realized she was there, and then Jongin was dashing out of the room, her cheeks flushed and her stomach tied in knots.  
  
It wasn’t until the next week when Jongin saw her again. But this time, she was sitting at one of the library desks, nose buried deep in a textbook, and her hair was cut shorter, now falling just past her chin and dyed bright red.

 

 

♥

 

  
  
“That was nauseating,” Jongdae deadpans, and Baekhyun whacks her with a shirt.  
  
“It’s _adorable_ ,” she corrects, turning to Jongin with a sweet smile. “And you’re totally overthinking it!”  
  
“Yeah, she definitely asked you out,” Jongdae agrees, not even bothering to look over to where Jongin’s sitting on the bed.  
  
“I hate you guys,” Jongin grumbles out, but she’s still all warm and fuzzy inside from finally being able to tell someone about the past two months. Or maybe that’s just the nerves drilling down from her chest to her stomach.  
  
Either way, she’s feeling way better than before, and Joonmyun’s shoulder is making for a very comfortable pillow as they watch their friends rummage the floor for inspiration.  
  
“Oh, how’s _this_ combo?” Baekhyun teases, chucking more clothes at Jongin’s lap. Grimacing, Jongin picks up a black crop-top that hasn’t fit her since middle school, and throws it back onto the floor along with the booty shorts that she can only get away with wearing as pyjamas.  
  
“Shouldn’t we go for something a bit less... _revealing_? Maybe?” Joonmyun says cautiously, and Baekhyun rolls her eyes.  
  
“Joonmyunnie~ you’re making this so hard!” she whines. “We have to show off Jongin’s assets!”  
  
“What assets?!” Jongin protests. She’s got nothing going for her in the chest _or_ waist department, but Baekhyun still fixes her with an offended look.  
  
“We’ve been through this before,” she hisses, as if Jongin pays any attention to Baekhyun’s advice. “You’re, like, eighty percent legs! You have to wear a skirt or shorts.”  
  
“Hey, what about these jeans?” Jongdae calls out from deep within Jongin’s closet.  
  
“Show me,” Baekhyun orders, and Jongdae pops out with a barely-worn pair of blue skinny jeans. “Vetoed, too boring.”  
  
“No, I like those,” Jongin assures, which makes Baekhyun gawk at her. “What? It’s just a movie, I can’t be wearing something like- like _that_ ,” she splutters, flailing her arms at the pink, rhinestone-covered top in Baekhyun’s hands.  
  
“Pink and blue look great together,” Baekhyun states, handing over the hideous singlet that Jongin had tried so hard to steer her mom away from the last time they went shopping.  
  
“I think Jongin suits casual clothes the best,” Joonmyun offers. When Baekhyun keeps insisting, Joonmyun just shakes her head until the top is thrown back onto the floor, and Jongin can finally sigh in relief.  
  
“Yeah, listen to Joonmyunnie,” Jongdae taunts. “A button-down top and jeans is the classic Jongin outfit, so let’s go with that.”  
  
“I hate you guys,” Baekhyun whinges, plopping onto the bed next to Jongin. “If you don’t get laid, it’s _all_ Jongdae’s fault!”  
  
“What- who said anything about getting laid?” Jongin squeaks, her cheeks already flushing bright red. With a smirk, Baekhyun pokes her in the stomach.  
  
“Oh, just you wait, lil’ Jonginnie, it’s only a matter of time,” Baekhyun coos, just as Jongin shrinks away from her jabs. “But! Since we’re already talking about getting laid-” _Oh god_ , Jongin thinks. “Do you think there’s any chance Kyungsoo could hook me up with Sehun?”  
  
Jongdae barks out a laugh, still flicking through the hangers in Jongin’s cupboard. “Are you finally giving up on Chanyeol’s pathetic ass?”  
  
“I think it’s just a fact that I’m too good for him,” she states as she cuddles up to Jongin’s side, her long brown hair tickling Jongin’s arm. Now Joonmyun’s getting squished by the weight of both of them, but she doesn’t complain. “Besides, Minseok told me that Sehun’s _bigger_ , and actually knows how to use it.”  
  
Jongin joins Jongdae in fake-retching, while Baekhyun scoffs at the two of them. “Is it too much to ask that my clit gets _some_ attention?” At Jongin’s horrified squawk, Baekhyun slaps her in the boob. “You better be writing this down, idiot! Why else do you think Kyungsoo has a tongue piercing? Soon, you two are going to be in 69-ing heaven-”  
  
“ _Baekhyunnie_ -” Jongin whinges. “Stop it!”  
  
“Alright, alright,” Baekhyun sighs out, a mischievous grin still aimed up at Jongin. “So this is what I’m thinking, right? Because everyone knows that Sehun doesn’t just sleep around with anyone-” Jongin did _not_ know that, and she really didn’t need to. “So if Kyungsoo can just introduce me as a friend, then I’ll have a way better chance of winning his heart and getting into his pants. It’s foolproof! You think you can help?”  
  
“Uh... “ Jongin blinks down at her pleading pout. “If- if today goes okay, then I guess I’ll bring it up.”  
  
“Aw, thank you, Jonginnie~” Baekhyun sing-song, before her tone turns serious. “But can you do it fast? Because I know for a fact that Zitao wants to get in on that, too-”  
  
“Okay, you realize that’s kind of catty, even for you, right?” Jongdae questions, but her smirk makes the words a lot less accusing.  
  
“ _So_? Zitao shouldn’t have been such an asshole, then,” Baekhyun argues, and Jongdae just snorts back.  
  
Silently, Jongin wonders if she wants to know what happened, not that it’s hard to guess. But she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to add any more stress to her day, and she just shifts in the uncomfortable position, stuffing her hands under her thighs. Joonmyun rests a palm on Jongin’s knee, and Jongin tries to swallow, her mouth dry from the guilt and worry.  
  
“Hey, I think I’ve seen you wear this before,” Jongdae states, pulling out a loose, white blouse from the closet. She probably has, since Jongin went through a month-long obsession with that top, and it’s still one of her favourites. But this morning, it had only been another never-ending problem of how to wear it, what to pair it with- the whole thing hurting Jongin’s head.  
  
“Would it kill you guys to pick something _not_ plain?” Baekhyun sighs out.  
  
“Yeah, but this top looks good on her,” Jongdae argues.  
  
Honestly Jongin’s surprised that Jongdae has an opinion at all, since she spends all her free time in graphic tees and leggings. But since Jongdae’s never handing out compliments like this, Jongin finds herself trusting her.  
  
“Why don’t you go try it on?” Joonmyun suggests, and Jongin’s just about to haul herself up to go to the bathroom when Baekhyun grabs her.  
  
“No, you can’t get changed yet!” Baekhyun insists. “We haven’t even picked out what you’re wearing underneath, and that’s way more important!”  
  
With a long, suffering whine, Jongin collapses back on the bed. This is going to be a painful hour and a half, but at least she’s not stressing out on her own, anymore.

 

 

♥

 

  
  
Since Jongin’s new to the whole ‘real-life crush’ thing, she deals with it in the only way she can think of: creepily watching from a distance.  
  
It becomes a really bad habit, one that takes control over her eyes before she can stop herself from staring, her cheeks from blushing bright red, her heart from speeding up. But as guilty as Jongin feels about the whole thing, she does manage to find out a lot of information from her hopeless pining.  
  
Like how her name is Do Kyungsoo, and she suddenly transferred from another school across town for a reason no one’s figured out, which Baekhyun tells them at the lunch table, while Jongin pretends not to hang off of every word she’s saying about the mysterious new girl. Or how Kyungsoo’s in the grade above Jongin, and her maths class is right across the hall from Jongin’s Chemistry lessons, so if Jongin rushes to that class early, she can catch a glimpse of Kyungsoo’s slim back. Or that they happen to have line 4 off together, and both like to spend that hour in the library.  
  
Jongin has to tell herself that this crush is a good thing, since before, she used to snag the beanbag in the back corner and go on her phone for all that free time. But now, she diligently sits at one of the rectangular tables in the main room, making up for whatever homework she didn’t get around to doing the day before. At least, she pretends to, but the view is kind of distracting.  
  
Kyungsoo is always sitting in the same spot, the one furthest from the entrance, facing the rest of the lined-up desks, and she always has some kind of textbook in front of her. So Jongin very subtly claims the place that’s in front of her- not straight in front, though. Jongin takes the seat diagonal to hers, two tables back, and since most of the other students flock to the computer labs, there’s normally no one in between them.  
  
Jongin still hasn’t decided if that’s a good or a bad thing. Because especially on days like today, where she’s three chapters behind in her Advanced English class and _To Kill a Mockingbird_ \- the novel that’s the bane of her existence right now - she finds it really hard to get anything done. It’s not like Jongin spends the _whole_ hour staring, since that’d be super creepy, but she goes through a very specific pattern every few minutes of fighting the urge to look, giving in to the urge when she can’t take it any longer, lamenting over her feelings and how pretty Kyungsoo is, trying to go back to her work, and then not being able to think because her brain won’t shut up about what kind of event might force them to talk to each other, one day, before it all starts again. Last time, Jongin had actually counted, and her eyes ended up on Kyungsoo a whopping 27 times in an hour. Three of those times, they almost made eye contact before Jongin quickly darted her gaze away, burning bright-red.  
  
But it’s not like there’s anything else in the library that would grab Jongin’s attention, since they’re just surrounded by book cases and quiet studiers, and Kyungsoo is straight in front of her, she reasons. Besides, Jongin’s been good today and hasn’t been caught at all, so she’s convinced herself that everything’s fine and she can indulge herself in a bit more peeking.  
  
At least she _thought_ that, until there was suddenly something skidding across her desk and tapping her on the hand. Mid hair-twirl, Jongin has to look over from rereading the same passage for the eighth time, to check what’s landed next to her front of her.  
  
It’s a folded piece of paper, small and neatly creased, and her face is already heating up from the crazy possibility- but when she scans around her, it’s painfully obvious that she’s the only one it could have been aimed to, and there’s no one in front of her except-  
  
Kyungsoo. Who is looking straight back at Jongin, expression blank and cheek resting on her palm, and Jongin actually feels her heart slam into her ribs.  
  
Almost expectantly, Kyungsoo quirks her head to the side more, and Jongin blinks, finally remembering how to get air back into her lungs. With slightly shaking fingers, Jongin sets her book down, feeling Kyungsoo’s eyes boring into her forehead. It all feels like one of the hundreds of daydreams that Jongin thinks up when she gets bored, except somehow, this is actually real, and Jongin’s pulse is racing as she unfolds the small note.  
  
_‘you stare at me a lot’_ is all that’s written on the paper, the black ink messily scrawled between the blue lines- and Jongin almost dies on the spot.  
  
Was she really that obvious? Oh god- of _course_ she was, Jongin groans, her nerves shrivelling in guilt. So how many times has Kyungsoo noticed her staring? There must have been way too many for Jongin to play off, and her heart is beating out of her chest as Jongin steals a desperate peek up at Kyungsoo. But she’s back to reading through her textbook like nothing’s happened, a very slight smile crossing her lips, and Jongin realizes with a confusing pang that Kyungsoo’s must be messing with her.  
  
So that means that maybe Jongin can fix this. Grabbing the pen by her side, which she’s been using to scribble down English words she’s got no hope of remembering, Jongin writes her own message on the back of the page.  
  
_‘Your hair’s bright green, it’s hard not to look’_ before adding on a ‘ _haha_ ’ to the end to make it sound more casual.  
  
The crimson hair only lasted two weeks, barely fading from that fiery color that would make Jongin blush equally red every time she saw it. But now, Kyungsoo’s dyed it a forest green, with some of the frizzy strands almost shining turquoise when Jongin passes her in the well-lit hallways. It definitely grabs longer stares than the red, but Jongin’s a lot more enamored with Kyungsoo’s soft, doe-eyed prettiness than whatever color her hair is. She still chucks the note back though, her aim slightly off-centre.  
  
Reaching over, Kyungsoo has to save it from slipping off the edge of the table, and Jongin watches with her teeth gnawing her bottom lip as Kyungsoo opens the paper. A second later, Kyungsoo smirks, and Jongin can almost hear the soft breath of air that escapes her lips. Kyungsoo looks up at her for a brief glance as Jongin tries her best to smile sheepishly back, and then Kyungsoo turns back to her book.  
  
Sucking in a deep breath, Jongin reckons that she’s safe. Kyungsoo doesn’t look back up at her after that, and Jongin knows that this is her cue to stop staring, or at least to tone it down a bit. With a heavy disappointment swirling in her stomach, Jongin forces her eyes back down and picks up her mind-numbing book. Except none of the words make it through her brain, because all she can think of is if this will be the only time she’ll ever talk to Kyungsoo, and even though she smiled, does that mean things are actually fine?  
  
Jongin’s started to tap her foot in a worried panic when the next note lands on her desk. This time, she’s a lot more hasty to open it, except this one makes a lot less sense.  
  
_‘pink or purple?_ ’ Kyungsoo’s asked, and Jongin flips the new paper over to see that there’s nothing else on it. Confused, Jongin looks up with a frown on her face, until Kyungsoo runs her hands through the front strands of her hair, and Jongin makes a soft ‘oh’.  
  
‘ _Purple_!’ she scrawls down enthusiastically, not hesitating to chuck the note back to Kyungsoo.  
  
After reading her answer, Kyungsoo nods to herself, then giving Jongin a thumbs up that Jongin copies in a flustered haste. She doesn’t even want to know how awkward she looks, but when Kyungsoo’s turned back to her book, there’s still a grin on her lips. With a breathless sigh, Jongin presses her palm on her cheek to feel the heat radiating from her skin, white-hot, and she thinks that at least that could have gone a lot worse.  
  
The rest of the hour passes in silence, with Jongin stealing the occasional glance up until Kyungsoo notices and Jongin pretends to be fixing her wavy hair. Except one time, Jongin looks up to find Kyungsoo already staring, and as soon as their eyes meet, Kyungsoo ducks her gaze down, hunching back over her textbook, and Jongin almost bursts out laughing. It almost turns into a game, one of them waiting for the other to notice, and Jongin doesn’t even get through one page that period. But when Kyungsoo’s packing her stuff up, waving to Jongin with the note in hand, Jongin wonders if Kyungsoo’s doing a poll on what color to go next. She kind of doubts it, though, so maybe she’s allowed to feel a bit special, and the fluttering of her heart definitely agrees.

 

 

♥

 

  
  
With a hand rested on the doorknob, Jongin stops and hesitates for a moment.  
  
After trying on the clothes in the bathroom- and maybe checking herself out a little in the mirror-, Jongin’s feeling surprisingly happy about this outfit, or as happy as she can today. Of course, she needs her friends’ advice, but she’s already dreading having everyone staring when she walks back into the room. Things are so much easier when Baekhyun’s the center of attention, she laments.  
  
“Jongin, I know you’re out there!” said-Baekhyun hollers out, her voice blessedly quiet from the other side of the wooden door.  
  
Taking in a deep breath, Jongin tries to tug her shirt down to hide the small gap between her high-waisted jeans and her cropped blouse, but with no luck. She knows she’ll just have to live with it, and with a grimace, Jongin opens the door and speeds back to the bed they’re all lounging on.  
  
“Oh my god, you look so good!” Baekhyun squeals as Jongin flops down next to her, hiding her face behind Baekhyun’s tiny shoulders.  
  
“Jongin’s always pretty,” Joonmyun assures.  
  
“Yeah but now she’s bangable, too,” Baekhyun insists, trying to extract a protesting Jongin from her armpit.  
  
“You’re welcome, everyone,” Jongdae states.  
  
“I bet Kyungsoo’s totally gonna jump you in the middle of the movie theatre,” Baekhyun squeals, and Jongin settles against the headrest with a flushed glare.  
  
“Shut up,” she huffs out.  
  
“Now let me see the bra!” Squawking, Jongin has to bat Baekhyun’s perverted hands away from her chest and the lacey, white set they forced her into. “Stop squirming!”  
  
“Stop trying to corrupt her,” Jongdae snaps, breaking up the cat-fight by hauling Baekhyun backwards and into her and Joonmyun’s laps.  
  
“You guys,” she whines, propping herself up on an elbow to pout at everyone. “You’re no fun.”  
  
“You can have your fun later, when we aren’t trying to get Jongin ready for her date that’s coming to pick her up in an hour,” Jongdae deadpans.  
  
“Fine,” Baekhyun drawls out, before she snaps back to her bossy tone. “Joonmyun, go fetch my stuff from the car. Bring all the soaps, makeup, and hair tools.”  
  
“Why can’t you get them yourself?” Jongdae defends, to which Baekhyun groans.  
  
“Don’t worry about it, Dae,” Joonmyun assures, already shuffling her way out from under Baekhyun. “I can get everything.”  
  
“Let me help you,” Jongdae states, following her lead before she stops to glare at Baekhyun. “And don’t do anything weird when we’re gone.”  
  
“I would never,” Baekhyun assures, blinking up at Jongdae innocently, who looks unconvinced.  
  
The moment the doors shut behind them, Baekhyun flips over, cheek pressing into Jongin’s crossed legs.  
  
“... What?” Jongin asks, not at all trusting that sweet smile on Baekhyun’s face.  
  
“I’m gonna be so jealous of your sex life.”  
  
“Oh my god, Baekhyun,” Jongin whines out, hands coming up to hide behind.  
  
“I’m serious!” Baekhyun exclaims. “You need to take advantage of it, or you’ll regret it. Like how I should totally have taken up Yixing’s offer of letting me peg-”  
  
“Okay, okay! I don’t need to know that, please,” Jongin begs, and Baekhyun shrugs up at her, unfazed.  
  
With a sigh, Jongin lets her arms drop back to her lap. Baekhyun’s sex life with half of the popular jocks is really the last thing Jongin wants to hear about, as much as her friend loves talking about it. But Jongin has her own problems to worry about, and sleeping with Kyungsoo is, right at the moment, not one of them, when Jongin still has to figure out how to act normal around her when she shows up.  
  
“Okay, like-” Jongin groans, already missing the silence, but Baekhyun pays no mind to her. “I’m not saying I’m gay or anything, but... I would totally let Kyungsoo try and convince me,” she states, as if that’s a perfectly normal thing to say to Jongin, who stares at her in disbelief. “What?” Baekhyun defends, sitting up on her knees. “She’s got that whole ‘doesn’t care what the fuck you say’ thing, and it’s really hot. Plus I’ve always wanted to be eaten out by someone with a tongue piercing-”  
  
“Can you please not talk about her like that?” Jongin sobs out, despairing over her whole existence.  
  
“Alright, alright,” Baekhyun concedes, but she’s still got an evil glimmer in her eyes. “Just know that I’m right about this, like how I was totally right about you crushing on Kyungsoo.”  
  
Thankfully, Jongin is saved by Jongdae and Joonmyun banging their way back into the room, arms weighed down by a dozen different bags. Clapping her hands in excitement, Baekhyun scuttles her way over to them while Jongin is busy trying to bury her head in the pillow.

 

 

♥

 

  
  
It only takes a month before Kyungsoo gets snatched up by the popular group, or, more specifically, by the senior jocks.  
  
In the hallways or in the cafeteria where Kyungsoo would normally be alone, now Jongin sees her being flanked by a group of giant, loud guys, and even though Jongin should be glad to see her getting along with people, the whole thing leaves a dull ache in her chest. Somehow, Kyungsoo doesn’t look out of place with them, even if her head’s bright purple and only comes up to their chests. From what Jongin knows as she passes them by, they all like to laugh at Kyungsoo’s snappy sense of humor, while Jongin’s left wishing she could hear enough to get the joke.  
  
Jongin knows she’s being greedy, but now, the few back-and-forth notes thrown during free period only make her more desperate to talk to Kyungsoo properly. It’s too bad Jongin’s a complete chicken who already agonizes enough about a few words on a piece of paper, so how would she ever be able to start a conversation? Especially now that Kyungsoo’s got a bunch of better, ‘hotter’ people constantly surrounding her. She’s in a position that almost every girl in the school would dream about, and yet here’s Jongin, just fantasizing about being able to say hi to Kyungsoo in the corridors.  
  
So as if things weren’t already looking terrible enough, then they just had to get a lot worse.  
  
From their table in the middle of the cafeteria, Jongin’s swapped spots around so that now, she has a perfect view of the popular crowd if she peeks between Jongdae and Joonmyun. It’s just like any other day of munching on her leftovers, where Jongin’s too busy sneaking glances at Kyungsoo to pay attention to what’s happening with her friends, or the way Baekhyun’s sighing and passing all her food to Zitao.  
  
“Aren’t you hungry?” Joonmyun asks, suddenly reaching over the table and interrupting Jongin’s staring. Subtly, Jongin shifts over to look over Joonmyun’s back as her friend tries to check Baekhyun’s temperature with her hand. “You don’t feel that feverish.”  
  
“I had a bad night,” Baekhyun sighs out, and now Jongin’s ears have started listening, and she turns to look at Baekhyun’s tired expression.  
  
“I thought you were with Chanyeol last night,” Zitao states, mouth still full of Baekhyun’s kimchi pasta.  
  
At Baekhyun’s silence, Jongin meets Joonmyun’s worried frown.  
  
“You- uh... wanna talk about it?” Jongdae tries, and Baekhyun takes a moment to mull it over, tapping her manicured hand on the table, before she’s snapped back to her normal self.  
  
“I mean, like, surely if you’ve got someone’s dick hard and ready to ride-”  
  
“ _Oh my god_ ,” Jongdae yells, blocking her ears to the rest of it, and Jongin almost does the same except she’s busy choking on her food.  
  
“- like, isn’t it just common sense that you don’t say something like-” Baekhyun clears her throat, crossing her arms and putting on her best, deep Chanyeol voice. “‘Hey, you think I’ve got a chance with that Kyungsoo chick.’ Like, who the fuck does that?”  
  
Zitao pipes up then, her tone high-pitched and bitter, but Jongin has no idea what she’s actually saying when her heart has screeched to a stop. Jongin’s whole chest curls in disgust, her throat clenching shut as she flicks her gaze back over to the popular group. Sure enough, Chanyeol is the one sitting next to Kyungsoo, leaned back with his stupid tie flung over his shoulder, easily laughing with the guys sitting on top of the table.  
  
“- well Chanyeol thinks she’s pretty,” Baekhyun snaps back, and Jongin wishes she could block her own ears, hide her burning face, but she desperately needs to know it if it’s about Kyungsoo, no matter how much it hurts. “He wouldn’t shut up about her afterwards, either. All ‘Kyungsoo this’ and ‘Kyungsoo that’- it’s like I wasn’t even there.”  
  
“Are you alright?” Joonmyun asks softly, and Jongin hears Baekhyun let out a long sigh, resting her head in her hands.  
  
“Yeah, whatever,” she grumbles. “He’s just a dick sometimes.”  
  
“You should give up on him. I’m serious, Baekhyun,” Jongdae states. Swallowing past the lump crushed in her throat, Jongin tries to nod as well, but Baekhyun just waves a hand at them.  
  
“I’ll be fine, guys.”  
  
Jongin knows that she’s lying, and the rest of lunch is spent chatting about useless things that Jongin doesn’t hear a single word of, too busy trying to keep her gaze fixed on the table and her heart from panging. Next to her, Baekhyun doesn’t touch the rest of her food, but Jongin doesn’t either, and no one seems to notice.  
  
Until the bell suddenly rings, and Jongin’s barely managed to bolt out of the cafeteria before Baekhyun catches her by the wrist at the lockers.  
  
“Hey, what’s up with you?” Baekhyun asks, and Jongin’s stomach drops, mind racing to find a way out of this.  
  
“N-nothing, why?” she says, feigning an innocent look. Clearly, Baekhyun doesn’t buy it, and she purses her lips up at Jongin, who really shouldn’t feel so tiny when she’s a head taller than Baekhyun.  
  
“You’ve never given two shits about what’s happening with Chanyeol or the other jocks, but you looked like a kicked puppy back there,” she states, and Jongin tightens her fist, having no idea what she’s meant to say to that. So Jongin just stands there, waiting for Baekhyun to drop the subject and let them get to class.  
  
In the end, she doesn’t have to do anything, because Baekhyun sighs and steps a little closer, her next words murmured by Jongin’s cheek. “Look, if it makes you feel any better, she’s definitely not interested in him.”  
  
And then Baekhyun turns and struts away, leaving Jongin with no idea if she meant that for Kyungsoo or Chanyeol’s sake. But either way, after that lunch, Baekhyun doesn’t breathe another word about her hook-ups with Chanyeol.

 

 

♥

 

  
“Baekhyun, I told you I already showered yesterday,” Jongin bites out, trying to squeeze her way past. Despite Baekhyun’s tiny frame, she’s doing an annoyingly good job of blocking the doorway.  
  
“Yeah but not with all my amazing products,” Baekhyun snaps, and she spins Jongin back to face the bathroom before Jongin can make another break for the exit. “You have to wash all the stress out, okay? It’s starting to smell bad.”  
  
“You’re an asshole,” Jongin whines, but she doesn’t bother resisting as Baekhyun pushes her the rest of the way across the cold tiles.  
  
“Turn to me,” Baekhyun orders, and rolling her eyes, Jongin does as Baekhyun gives her a long once-over. “Alright. Strip.”  
  
“What- can’t you leave first?” Jongin splutters out.  
  
“No,” Baekhyun says curtly, before dropping the sly smile from her face. “Now hurry up, oh my god, we have a million things to do!”  
  
“I hate you so much,” Jongin deadpans, but she knows more than anyone that time’s running out, and that this is the only way she’ll get Baekhyun to shut up.  
  
So, rushing, Jongin fumbles to unbutton her top and fling it over Baekhyun’s eyes, before she shimmies out of her tight jeans and undies.  
  
“Are you gonna wax that?” Baekhyun asks rudely, and Jongin scrambles to cover herself. But Baekhyun’s got a shit-eating grin on, and Jongin huffs at her in annoyance.  
  
“Am I meant to?” she hisses.  
  
“Well, I don’t know,” Baekhyun clips, resting a hand on the sink basin. “What do girls like?”  
  
“Why do you expect me to know that?” Jongin whines, the warmth of the overhead heater starting to wear off as goosebumps rise on her skin.  
  
“Oh my god, you’re, like, the worst lesbian _ever_... What do the girls in porn do?” Baekhyun asks way too casually, and Jongin gawks at her. “Oh my god,” she groans out. “As if you _don’t_ watch chicks getting it on when you’re-”  
  
“I’m ignoring you, now!” Jongin blurts out, hiding her red-hot cheeks as she slams herself shut into the shower.  
  
“Jonginnie~ don’t feel bad, I’m sorry!” Baekhyun whines, but Jongin refuses to turn and face her. “I’m sure Kyungsoo’s bright pink down there, anyway!”  
  
“Just- let me shower, Baek,” she insists, twisting the knobs on.  
  
“Okay, fine! But don’t forget to shave your other bits!” Baekhyun insists, the sound of the door shutting muffled by the shower spray.  
  
Shivering, Jongin stands away from the water spray, just glad she dodged that conversation. Because honestly, she _doesn’t_ watch porn, but Baekhyun doesn’t need more information to use against her. It’s not like Jongin hasn’t tried to, before, but it always looks too fake for her, and how’s she meant to get off to it when even the actresses don’t look like they’re having fun? So she’s perfectly happy with her YoonYul fanfictions, or with thoughts of Kyungsoo, and her hair tickling the top of Jongin’s ear as she leans over her at their desk, of that dark gaze that Jongin’s sometimes caught her staring with- her thick, pink lips that she licks when she’s concentrating, or of her soft fingers inside-  
  
With a groan, Jongin steps under the warm water and tries not to think about that too much, even if it is a bit too late to push away the images that are flooding her brain and making her tense her legs together. But she doesn’t have any time to deal with it, anyway, so Jongin just shakes her head, grimacing. To distract herself, she picks up one of Baekhyun’s bottles at random- a hair-volumizing keratin treatment, whatever that means- and pops the cap.

 

 

♥

 

  
  
As if this crush wasn’t painful before, now, every day has Jongin’s heart getting stepped on and crushed into smaller, sharper pieces.  
  
Almost straight after the stupid conversation with Baekhyun, Jongin swears she starts to see and hear Chanyeol everywhere. It would already be impossible to ignore him, because he’s always yelling deafeningly loud in the corridors, or just taking up too much space in general, and every time she catches sight of him, Jongin feels her blood boil with bitter hatred. But the worst is the day when Chanyeol tags along with Kyungsoo to the library and takes that spot next to her that should be _Jongin’s_ or just _anyone_ _else’s_ , and not this asshole’s.  
  
After the first time, Chanyeol spends every free period trying to flirt with Kyungsoo, so obviously that even Jongin can tell what he wants and it _kills_ her. But Jongin still stubbornly refuses to move from her spot. Even though it makes her heart flare with jealousy, at least this way she knows exactly what’s happening.  
  
It starts with Chanyeol trying to distract Kyungsoo from her work, by laughing and talking her ear off until the librarian loses her temper at him. But Jongin’s victory is short-lived, because then he just moves on to grabbing Kyungsoo’s textbooks out of her hands, teasing her by holding them high out of her reach.  
  
At least Kyungsoo seems actually pissed off when he does that- Jongin knows she would be, too, and if she wasn’t such a _coward_ , she’d march right up there and snatch the books back for her. But Jongin doesn’t, and she only watches on with gritted teeth and her nails digging into her palm.  
  
Maybe she’s making it up, over thinking things again, but Jongin swears that Kyungsoo never looked annoyed when they used to talk, and her patience with Chanyeol seems like a short fuse that he can easily blow. Except just when Jongin’s starting to believe herself, then Chanyeol will leans in and whisper something too close to Kyungsoo’s ear, and she’ll smirk, one side of her mouth lifting higher than the other, and Jongin’s heart sinks back down.  
  
Because even if Chanyeol might get on her nerves half the time, Jongin’s the one who doesn’t get a single word from her, now, and it feels like she’s lost, like whatever small place she could have had in Kyungsoo’s life is being snatched away.  
  
So when Jongin sits down one Wednesday, already in a bad enough mood after getting her Advanced English midterm back, she’s only expecting the day to get a whole lot worse when the table in front of her fills up.  
  
But until that happens, she’ll have to try to tredge her way through another page of _To Kill A Mockingbird_ , the pressure of knowing that she’s a few weeks from failing the class sitting heavy in her chest. And just as Jongin’s almost gotten on a good run of two paragraphs without having to stop and look up a new word, there’s a sudden tap on her shoulder.  
  
Grimacing, Jongin steels herself to politely tell whoever it is that she’s busy, but she doesn’t get a single word out when she looks up and it’s _Kyungsoo_ who’s standing over her.  
  
“You know, it doesn’t matter how hard you glare at it, it’s not going to turn into Hangul,” Kyungsoo states, perfectly calm and way too pretty, and Jongin has to blink a lot of times before the words make any sense to her, or she can think of anything to say back.  
  
“I… I did know that,” Jongin eventually replies with, inwardly cringing. She knows that she’s just let this chance slip through her fingers by saying such a boring answer.  
  
But Kyungsoo only taps a hand on the plastic chair next to her. “Can I sit here?”  
  
_What about Chanyeol,_ she thinks sourly. But Jongin blinks that away and instead nods- a bit too jerkily.  
  
With a smile, her pretty pink lips quirking into a heart, Kyungsoo settles down at the table, dumping a thick Chemistry textbook in front of her and her school bag on the floor. Speechless, Jongin can feel her heart beating out of her chest, her mouth parched dry, but after weeks of imagining Kyungsoo talking to her- she can’t believe this is actually happening.  
  
“So where are you up to, now?” Kyungsoo asks once she’s pulled her chair back in, her voice gentle and smooth, and Jongin falls a little in love with it. Before she has the chance to answer, though, Kyungsoo leans an elbow on the table to peek at Jongin’s book.  
  
“The court case just started,” Jongin says, her face unbearably hot from how closely Kyungsoo’s sitting.  
  
“Still hate it?” Kyungsoo asks, attention turned to Jongin who’s soaking up the view of Kyungsoo’s curious gaze, her long eyelashes, parted lips, the soft shadows falling across her cheeks-  
  
“It’s- it’s too hard to read,” Jongin states, wavering slightly over her words as she darts her stare back to her book. She can feel her pulse racing in the back of her throat, and she tries to swallow, desperate for a drink of water.  
  
Kyungsoo just laughs, the sound high and kind of nerdy, and Jongin has to sneak a look up to see how her eyes crinkle. “Yeah, I had to read it at my last school, but I only passed because I looked up the translated version online.”  
  
“Oh, really? I wish I’d thought of that,” Jongin lies, trying to smile back and pretend she doesn’t remember every word Kyungsoo’s ever written to her, like when she said the exact same thing a few weeks ago. But Jongin would do whatever she can to keep the conversation up, and she’s already a mess of nerves at the thought of an awkward silence taking over.  
  
“I’m sure you won’t need to. It’s cute how determined you are to finish it,” Kyungsoo compliments, and Jongin’s stomach does a backflip.  
  
“I…” Jongin’s scrambling for a reply, for something nice to say back, and her dumb brain blurts out the first thing it can think of. “I like your hair.”  
  
With a short giggle- oh god, she’s _giggling_ , Jongin’s inner voice wails- Kyungsoo runs her hand through the top of her hair, the front strands pushed back until she lets them fall back into place, prettily framing her face.  
  
Kyungsoo’s hair is never neat or straight, and there’s always some frizziness making her stray hairs splay out. It’s been about six weeks since school started, so her black roots are starting to show through, too, while the rest of her hair is a mix of darker and lighter purples, some sections faded to an almost orange-pink while her ends are almost back to bleach blonde. But no matter what, Kyungsoo’s still way too beautiful, and Jongin can’t stop staring.  
  
“I’ve been trying to get the purple out, but it won’t budge,” Kyungsoo states, inspecting a small section of dark violet, and Jongin’s about to assure her it looks fine when Kyungsoo sighs and gives her a mournful look.  
  
“Uh, sorry about that?” she tries, and Kyungsoo bites on her bottom lip, suddenly smiling and twisting Jongin’s stomach into knots. “I- guess I should have said pink?”  
  
“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo states as she tucks her hair behind her ear, which is tinged bright red. “I would’ve done both colors eventually.”  
  
“The purple looks really good on you,” Jongin says with a sudden burst of confidence, and Kyungsoo immediately looks away, turning back to the table.  
  
“Thanks.” Clearing her throat, Kyungsoo shifts back in her seat, and Jongin takes in a much-needed breath from the extra distance. “I’ll let you keep reading, but just let me know if you need any help.”  
  
“Can you really help me if you only looked it up online?” Jongin teases, making Kyungsoo furrow her thick eyebrows at her.  
  
“I still get A’s in all my English classes. My ways are just more efficient than yours,” she clips, before she grins up at her.  
  
“Actually, I think you mean you cheated,” Jongin jokes, and the way Kyungsoo gawks back is totally worth the burning in Jongin’s chest.  
  
“Okay, fine. If you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it,” Kyungsoo challenges, not letting Jongin talk back before she’s dragged the chair over to bump against Jongin’s, their bare knees grazing under the table as Kyungsoo plucks the book out of her startled hands. “Tell me a part you’re stuck on.”  
  
But Jongin’s had all the air knocked out of her, the contact against Kyungsoo’s warm skin sending tingles up her thighs, and those only get a lot worse as Kyungsoo leans into her. It has to be on purpose, the way her chest brushes against Jongin’s sleeve as she settles shoulder to shoulder with her. Speechless, Jongin can only stare with bated breath as Kyungsoo re-tucks her short hair behind her ear and rests the book in front of both of them, before she finally turns to Jongin with a daring, heavy stare.  
  
And no matter how good some of Kyungsoo’s help is, it all gets lost amongst the gentle guiding of Jongin’s hands across the words, and the blooming of the flowers in her chest.

 

 

♥

 

  
  
“Can you sit still?” Baekhyun snaps.  
  
“But you almost burnt me!” Jongin wails up at her friend, who barely spares her an eye-roll  
  
“I do this everyday, you idiot,” Baekhyun hisses. “And I swear to god, if you move again, I’m not responsible for my hand slipping.”  
  
“Why can’t Joonmyun do this part?” Jongin whines, sending a pleading look down to the floor where Joonmyun’s kneeled.  
  
“Because she wanted to do your nails. Now shut up,” Baekhyun states, and Jongin gives her the darkest glare she can muster. But she keeps quiet- her breaths stumbling over each other as she forces herself to keep still and not tap her foot, occasionally wincing when she hears her hair sizzling.  
  
“Done,” Joonmyun says a few minutes later, and Jongin lifts her hand up from her thigh to see a surprisingly neat French manicure.  
  
“How did you do that?” Jongin asks, turning to Joonmyun in awe- until Baekhyun twists Jongin’s head back to face her chest, fuming.  
  
“Lots of practice,” Joonmyun assures, before she shuffles over to Jongin’s other side, leaving Jongin to admire her neat manicure.  
  
“Your hair has so many annoying kinks!” Baekhyun complains, which has Jongdae barking out a laugh from next to their operation.  
  
“As if you can say that,” Jongdae shoots back, makin even Jongin snicker.  
  
Somehow, Jongdae managed to get out of doing any jobs and is just lounging on the bed and scrolling through her phone, Jongin’s own phone tucked into her back pocket.  
  
“Whatever, I’m done,” Baekhyun states, clicking off her straightener. “Not perfect, but it’s way better than what you would’ve done.” Offended, Jongin sticks her tongue out at her, which Baekhyun just mockingly copies.  
  
“Don’t mess with me when I’m the one doing your face,” she threatens before she turns to grab the rest of her torture tools.  
  
Jongin really wishes she was good enough to do it herself, but most days, she just turns up to school with her hair still wet and pulled into a high ponytail, and her makeup skills stop after foundation and mascara. So, with a sigh, she has to let Baekhyun take over this part while the worries bubble away at her stomach.  
  
It’s got to be past 2 o’clock by now, and Jongin can’t stop herself from fidgeting in her seat, desperate to know what time it is. But Jongdae’s got her phone held hostage after the last mini-crisis and without it, Jongin’s brain is frantically running through all their last texts, the last things Kyungsoo said to her, just trying to piece together any signs that this is more than just ‘hanging out’-  
  
“Hey, stop thinking so much,” Baekhyun chides, patting Jongin on her freshly-covered cheeks. Blinking, Baekhyun’s face comes back into focus, and Jongin finds her gently smiling down at her. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, it’s all gonna be fine. Trust me. Now, let’s go dunk your face in ice-cold water.”

 

 

♥

 

  
  
After that first time, Kyungsoo starts to always take the seat by Jongin’s side.  
  
It’s like an unspoken rule, and every time Jongin runs in, whether Kyungsoo’s sitting down or looking for books among the shelves, her stuff is always waiting at their table.  
  
That hour in the library takes over Jongin’s life. From the moment she springs out of bed to every part of the school day where Jongin’s sneaking peeks at her phone, or when she passes Kyungsoo’s friends in the corridor and she flashes Jongin a brief smile that makes her heart leap, to late at night when Jongin’s fighting to keep her eyes open and stay up as late as Kyungsoo does- it’s all Jongin can think about.  
  
Most of the time, they study in silence, with Jongin shyly working up the nerve to ask for extra help here and there. Or sometimes, Kyungsoo will get bored and look up bad chemistry jokes on her phone that have Jongin dissolving in giggles, but Kyungsoo’s always the one pushing them back to their work.  
  
And at some point along the way, when Jongin finally lets her nerves loosen, talking to Kyungsoo starts to feel as natural as talking to her closest friends. They have just enough in common with their love for slow music, for dramatic movies and good food, that they can stay up texting for hours. And whether Jongin is whining about her sisters or fangirling over SNSD or over-thinking the word choice in an essay, Kyungsoo can always even her back out.  
  
It’s been a few weeks like this, and Jongin thinks she could call Kyungsoo her friend, but other than that, she has no idea.  
  
There are some moments- like when Kyungsoo leans in too close over the desk, or she asks Jongin to get a book off the top shelf for her, and when Jongin looks back down, Kyungsoo’s fixed her with this dark, weighted gaze that has Jongin crumbling right back into a stuttering mess.  
  
But maybe it’s her just making the whole thing up. Jongin has no proof that Kyungsoo even thinks _that_ way, and after all these years of never meeting someone else who likes girls, Jongin knows she wouldn’t be that lucky. Even if Jongin’s spending most of her time on Cloud 9, there are those times when she crashes back to earth, where Jongin just wishes there was someone she could talk to about the whole thing. But her friends have no idea, and telling Kyungsoo won’t ever be possible, so Jongin can only take what she can get.  
  
And Jongin’s in one of those more hopeless moods when she drags herself through the library doors that day, her book clutched tight to her aching chest. Last night, she couldn’t get to sleep for hours, but Jongin knows it’s her own fault.  
  
Honestly, she was mostly joking when she said they should go watch the new horror movie that’s coming out, because Kyungsoo was talking about how easily spooked she gets and Jongin just wanted to tease her a bit. But the way Kyungsoo dodged the subject hurt almost worse than an actual rejection, and maybe Jongin should have been expecting it, but they hit the boundary of their relationship a lot faster than she wanted. At least Kyungsoo’s Chemistry book is lying open on their table, so she can’t be that mad.  
  
With a sigh, Jongin sets her stuff down beside hers, and for the first time in ages, she takes a seat instead of going to help Kyungsoo find new study material. Right now, the last thing Jongin wants is to read her book, but she’s only two chapters from the end and being on par with the rest of the class. So, against the dread weighing down her heart, she forces herself to open it and try to drill the words into her brain.  
  
But one paragraph in, Jongin’s still agonizing over everything _except_ her English grade, and it’s obvious that this is a lost cause. Just as Jongin gives up and puts her book down, hands coming up to rub at her sore face, something nicks her in the arm. Squinting, Jongin’s eyes land on the piece of paper now dropped in front of her, and when she looks up, she sees Kyungsoo peering at her from next to the bookcases.  
  
Of course, her heart does its normal jump, but Jongin ignores it, instead frowning over at Kyungsoo who barely bats an eyelash back. So she’s being cryptic again, Jongin laments, and with a huff, unfolds the note.  
  
_‘are you free this saturday?’_  
  
Blinking, Jongin has to read through the English writing again, and even though she knows what each word means, her brain’s still slow to process the question.  
  
“In this context, the ‘free’ means ‘available,” Kyungsoo states, Jongin jolting as she sees that her crush has suddenly appeared by her side.  
  
“I- I knew that,” she defends, keeping her voice snappy even though her whole body is buzzing with nerves.  
  
“So are you busy?” Kyungsoo asks as she sits down, Jongin averting her gaze from where Kyungsoo’s school skirt stops, halfway down her thighs. “Or do you not want to hang out with me?”  
  
Blushing furiously, Jongin shakes her head. “No, I’m- I’m free,” she squeaks out, too embarrassed to meet Kyungsoo’s eyes.  
  
“How about we go to the movies, but stay away from the scary ones?” Kyungsoo says, her voice casual because she’s _just asking to hang out_ , Jongin insists to herself. Even if it does _kind of_ sound like a date, Jongin has to play it cool, too.  
  
“Yeah, sure. What do you want to watch?” she tries, calmly fixated on fiddling with the creases in the note.  
  
“Hm, I’m not sure yet,” Kyungsoo muses to herself, but then she’s boldly reaching for Jongin’s hand, skin warm as her touch lingers over Jongin’s fingers. “Write your address down and I can pick you up in the afternoon.”  
  
It’s completely unnecessary for Kyungsoo to smooth the paper out for Jongin, but she does anyway, and Jongin has to hide the tremble in her fingers as she scribbles down her details.  
  
“Thank you,” Kyungsoo sings, grabbing the finished note from Jongin’s sweating hands before she states something about having to study for her big test.  
  
And when Jongin finally has the nerve to look up, she sees that Kyungsoo’s cheeks are flushed just as bright as the bubblegum-pink hair she’s trying to shield herself behind.

 

 

♥

 

  
  
“Like, I don’t want to brag-”  
  
“Yes, you do,” Jongdae states, and Baekhyun shoots her a glare.  
  
“Okay, you’re right, I do,” she admits. “Because this might just be my best work yet.-  
  
“Can I please see it, already?” Jongin sighs out. She’s gone through enough with all the chaos of this afternoon, and honestly, she’s reached the point of exhaustion when she’s just ready for the whole thing to be over.  
  
But Baekhyun’s still got on a beaming grin and way too much enthusiasm as she lifts up the giant mirror she brought over, and Jongin blinks for a second at the reflection staring back at her.  
  
“Well?” Baekhyun demands, while Jongin turns her head, inspecting the new shadows drawn on her cheeks. “What do you think?”  
  
She still looks like herself, just prettier. Like Baekhyun promised, it’s a lot less dramatic than the makeup she normally goes for, with only a pale, shimmery brown for Jongin’s lids and the thinnest straight line of eyeliner. Her skin looks more even, nose slimmer and jaw softened, and there’s a pink tinge of blush brightening her face.  
  
“Well?” At Baekhyun’s eager expression, Jongin has to sigh, but the smile on her lips already gives away her answer.  
  
“I like it,” she murmurs, making Baekhyun squeal and pounce down to hug her.  
  
“You look amazing!” Baekhyun insists, and Jongin’s so squished that she can’t do anything but pat her back. “Now we just need accessories and-”  
  
A sudden knock at the door breaks their attention away, and Jongin straightens up just as Baekhyun turns to the noise.  
  
“What is it?” Jongin yells out.  
  
“You’ve got another friend waiting for you downstairs!” Jongin’s mom calls back, making everyone in the room shoot Jongin knowing looks.  
  
“Tell- tell them I’ll be down soon!” Jongin stutters out, already springing up with her head ducked away from her friend’s sniggers.  
  
“I already packed your bag,” Jongdae states, stopping Jongin from tearing apart the whole room in a fluster.  
  
“Thanks, Dae,” she breathes out, and Jongdae pulls her into a rare hug when Jongin goes to grab the black purse off her.  
  
“Good luck,” Jongdae says, just as Jongin feels herself being smushed from all angles.  
  
“We love you, Jonginnie~” Baekhyun sing-songs, right into her sensitive ear and making Jongin grimace.  
  
“Thanks, guys,” she murmurs, letting Jongdae ruffle the top of her hair affectionately.  
  
“Go get ‘em,” Jongdae states with a step back.  
  
“Text us after,” Joonmyun says as she lets go, too, and Baekhyun only squeezes her tighter.  
  
“Make me proud,” Baekhyun says, before she finally lets Jongin gasp in a breath.  
  
“You guys can wait up here, right?” Jongin rushes out, heart racing as she checks all of their smiling faces.  
  
“Oh, totally, you go first,” Baekhyun insists, basically marching Jongin towards the door. “And don’t forget to ask about Sehun. Love you!”  
  
With a last despairing look back, Jongin’s pushed out into the hallway, her friends grinning as they shut the door behind her. Everything is so quiet compared to the pounding in Jongin’s head, and she combs her fingers through her hair until it’s laying flat, fiddles with the strap of her bag, and tugs her shirt down in one last, pointless attempt to cover her midriff. Then she’s got no excuses left to not go downstairs, and Jongin takes in one last deep breath before she does.  
  
But things are already off to a bad start when she sees _both_ her sisters _and_ her mom crowding the door, and Jongin curses to herself as she dashes across the living room. Jongin’s barely had time to enjoy the way Kyungsoo’s eyes light up when she sees her, before she’s grabbing Kyungsoo by the wrist and hauling them both off the front porch.  
  
“Bye everyone,” she yells back over her shoulder, and all she can hear is Kyungsoo’s breathless laughter as she’s raced down the driveway.  
  
“BYE KYUNGSOO!” Baekhyun’s unbearably-annoying voice hollers after them.  
  
Against her better judgment, Jongin turns back to see all her friends and family waving down at them, and she very determinedly faces forward and pretends not to have noticed them, her pace speeding up.  
  
“Hey, I’ve got shorter legs, go easy on me,” Kyungsoo pants out.  
  
Embarrassed, Jongin looks back and realizes that she’s dragged Kyungsoo down half the street, and she slows down with a bumbling apology.  
  
“It’s nice to see you, too,” Kyungsoo teases, falling into step with her as they walk down the quiet neighbourhood.  
  
Very deliberately, Kyungsoo nudges up against her shoulder, and Jongin realizes that she’s still holding Kyungsoo’s wrist, which she very regretfully lets go of.  
  
“Please ignore everything they said to you,” Jongin insists, which Kyungsoo snorts to.  
  
“Your family’s sweet,” she assures, but Jongin knows better than that.  
  
“Well, you can’t trust any of them,” she states, fully serious. “They tell a lot of lies, especially if it’s about me.”  
  
“Really? So then... your sister’s story _wasn’t_ true?” Kyungsoo asks, her voice wary.  
  
“ _What_ story?” Jongin checks, meeting Kyungsoo’s wide eyes and already dreading the answer.  
  
“No. No, never mind,” she huffs out, turning away with a deep frown.  
  
“But- _Kyungsoo_ ,” Jongin whines. “Please tell me before I get worried-”  
  
“Relax, I’m just messing with you,” Kyungsoo assures, giggling, and Jongin whines down at her, teasingly bumping into her side.  
  
They keep walking like this, arms occasionally brushing as Jongin lets Kyungsoo lead the way to what she assumes is the bus stop into town. The silence is light, warm as the autumn sun, and somehow, Jongin already feels the most comfortable she has all day, like all the stresses have washed through her, leaving behind only butterflies.  
  
“We match,” Kyungsoo states after a few blocks, and Jongin looks over at her in confusion.  
  
But Kyungsoo just smiles, gesturing to her blue denim jacket, which is the same light shade as Jongin’s pants. Kyungsoo’s also wearing a plain white T-shirt, and it almost looks like they did it on purpose- if Jongin ignores the black, straight jeans and Nikes Kyungsoo’s got on. But it’s still a funny coincidence, and the fact that Kyungsoo pointed it out makes Jongin blush all the way to her ears.  
  
“So... what movie are we going to watch?” she asks, tentatively looking over at the lilted smile hidden by Kyungsoo's pink hair.  
  
“It’s a surprise,” she states, and Jongin frowns.  
  
“Can I have a clue?” she pleads.  
  
“Okay…” Biting on her lower lip, Kyungsoo flicks her a mischievous look that has Jongin’s heart skipping a beat. “Think of it as extra studying.”  


 

♥

 

  
  
Jongin doesn’t know how the latest _Transformers_ movie is supposed to help her not fail her English class, but Kyungsoo assures Jongin that watching the subbed version will be just as good as if she’d stayed home and actually finished her book. Even when Jongin puts on her best pout and tries to convince her that they should see the cartoon with the talking puppies, instead, Kyungsoo won’t budge on it, and Jongin loses that argument along with the one over who’s paying for the tickets.  
  
Kyungsoo does let her get the snacks, at least, which just causes more teasing and poking until Jongin gives up on the idea of sharing a large popcorn. But for the whole movie, while Kyungsoo’s happily munching on her cheese nachos and leaning over on the seat rest, the ends of her hair skimming Jongin’s shoulder, Jongin barely manages to touch her carton.  
  
Being stuck in the dark room, the two of them crammed into the back corner seats with no one else around- it has Jongin holding her breath and her stomach twisting in knots whenever the movie goes silent. Kyungsoo seems totally unaffected, though, and Jongin can’t help but steal little glances at her and the way she snorts at every lame joke, or how her lips part in awe at every screeching-loud action scene. And whenever Kyungsoo catches her staring, Jongin has to scramble to grab the coke in between them and pretend to take a sip, even though her chest is already flooded with enough bubbles.  
  
So by the time the end credits are finally rolling, two long hours later, Jongin understands even less about _Transformers_ than she did when she walked in, and she’s complaining to Kyungsoo about it once the two of them have sat down on the playground at the nearby park.  
  
“Bad robots fight good robots. Good robots win,” Kyungsoo summarises, dropping another piece of leftover popcorn into her mouth. “And Megatron’s the best.”  
  
“But that’s so…” At Jongin’s wrinkled nose, Kyungsoo just smirks. “Unoriginal.”  
  
“Yeah, but it’s fun,” Kyungsoo states, leaning back against the pole behind her and accidentally making the whole ride lurch. “ _Shit_ -”  
  
“Are you sure it’s safe to sit on these things?” Jongin laughs out, a hand shooting out to grip the railing beside her.  
  
“I haven’t figured that out, yet,” Kyungsoo admits with a wry smile, and Jongin just giggles down at her popcorn, both of them settling into the quiet of the evening breeze.  
  
The sun had already started to set once they left the theater, but Kyungsoo didn’t mention anything about going home yet, and Jongin wasn’t about to, either. So they ended up walking, neither of them leading the way as they took a random route out of the shopping area. Soon enough, Jongin had spotted this park across the street, and Kyungsoo didn’t get any say before she was dragged straight towards the empty playground, breathlessly running to keep up with Jongin’s pace.  
  
The swings have always been Jongin’s favorite, and after Kyungsoo made fun of her for getting stuck halfway down the slide enough times, Jongin challenged her to see which of them can get the highest. Kyungsoo, of course, took the bait, and even if she put up a good fight, she had no chance against Jongin or her longer legs, which she bitterly pointed out. But no matter how much Kyungsoo complained, Jongin could still tell that she was having fun, and both of them yelled themselves breathless as they tried to soar over the top of the city skyscrapers.  
  
Kyungsoo was the first to tire out, and she used the excuse of finishing off Jongin’s popcorn to rest on the old spinning top in the corner of the park. Neither of them know what to call this ride, even though Jongin has plenty of memories of stumbling off of them in a dizzy spell when she was little. It’s basically a red disk with poles coming off the centre, and the two of them have squeezed themselves in one of the wedges, Jongin’s head almost brushing the rail above her as they both sit cross-legged, their knees knocking every time one of them laughs too hard or shifts to one side. But even if Jongin feels completely off-balance, that’s not an unfamiliar feeling when Kyungsoo’s around.  
  
By now, all of the kids have already gone home, with only the occasional dog-walker passing by on the far-off path. But it feels like it’s only the two of them under the blushing sky, and Jongin’s taking in the view while she still can, while there’s still enough daylight to stare at Kyungsoo’s smiling face before they have to leave.  
  
And honestly, Jongin has no idea if this is a date or not, but even if it isn’t, she can’t be too upset, because this is the most fun she’s had in a long time. Although Jongin does have to admit, from all the quiet touches and gentle giggles, that it does feel a lot like a date.  
  
“Okay, new game. You ready?” Kyungsoo asks, and Jongin’s all ears. Grinning, Kyungsoo grabs a piece of popcorn and lightly tosses it, Jongin barely having time to wince before it’s hit her in the cheek. “You’re supposed to catch it with your mouth!” Kyungsoo exclaims.  
  
“I wasn’t ready,” Jongin protests, pouting down at the piece that’s fallen in the dirt.  
  
“I told you to be!” Kyungsoo laughs out. “Come on, try again.” And this time, when she throws another one, Jongin leans her head back and grabs it easily, the seat underneath them creaking. “Oh, good job!”  
  
“I want a turn,” Jongin says, smiling and eating in victory.  
  
They’ve still got half the medium-sized carton to go, and Jongin scoops up a handful before she flicks one up, Kyungsoo’s eyes following as it flies a good meter behind her.  
  
“Okay, let me try again,” Jongin insists to Kyungsoo’s sly smirk.  
  
But her next throw is just as awful, along with the next one, and then the one after that which just joins the other pieces on the floor- and her next try is even worse, when Kyungsoo almost collides with Jongin as she lunges forward for it.  
  
“Your aim’s terrible,” Kyungsoo says, rubbing her forehead between giggles.  
  
“There’s a lot of wind!” Jongin defends, and Kyungsoo grabs one from Jongin’s hand, flinging it high up before the popcorn bounces straight off Jongin’s nose.  
  
“Looks like I’m winning,” Kyungsoo teases smugly.  
  
With a glare, Jongin pelts a piece straight at Kyungsoo’s face, making her duck and the whole ride jolt backwards.  
  
“Don’t waste it!” Kyungsoo insists, huffing as Jongin does it again.  
  
Kyungsoo doesn’t hesitate to fight back, grabbing her own fist of popcorn and throwing the whole thing at a squeaking Jongin. As Kyungsoo cackles at the amount of salt Jongin has to brush off her shirt, Jongin takes the chance to hurl her own stash back at her. With bursts of yells and the ride lurching in all directions underneath them, the two of them manage to empty the whole carton over each other’s heads before it’s slapped onto the floor, Jongin laughing so hard her chest hurts.  
  
“I thought you said not to-” But her next words are cut off by the soft press of lips against hers, and Jongin freezes- barely having enough time to steady her hands at her sides before the world tilts upside down.  
  
It barely feels like a second before Kyungsoo’s quietly pulling back, and Jongin flutters her eyes open. She has to blink from how little light is left, but Jongin can still see Kyungsoo hovering an inch away, brows creased with worry, mouth slightly parted, and Jongin’s still forgotten how to breathe.

“Did I, um- read this wrong?” With a hollow chuckle, Kyungsoo clears her throat and kneels back, while Jongin can only stare.  
  
Beating deafeningly loud, her mind is still trying to catch up with everything that's happening- and when it finally does, when she realizes that Kyungsoo just _kissed_ her- Jongin can only splutter, shaking her head furiously and making Kyungsoo give her a funny look.  
  
“No but I- that’s not- I just- I want-” None of it’s coming out right and Jongin feels her body quickly flooding with panic, her heart pounding hard in her throat and choking her voice back into silence. But then Kyungsoo starts to smile, the corners of her mouth slowly lifting as she darts her gaze down.  
  
“I really like you, Jongin,” she says, the words simple, warm, and Jongin swallows.  
  
“I… Same,” she squeaks out, but she can’t feel embarrassed over her voice when Kyungsoo’s beaming at her, eyes twinkling even under the darkness of the night’s sky.  
  
“Can I kiss you again?” Kyungsoo asks, head tilting cutely, and Jongin only just manages to nod before Kyungsoo’s leaning in, again, Jongin shifting forward to meet her halfway.  
  
This time, Jongin kisses her back as best she can, softly pressing closer as strands of Kyungsoo’s hair tickle her flushed cheeks. Jongin's chest is aching, head in the clouds as she lets Kyungsoo cup a cold hand around the back of her neck, and Jongin wants so badly to hold her tighter, but her arms are shaking and she’s too scared of toppling backwards to let go of the ground. Gently, Kyungsoo parts Jongin’s mouth, her warm tongue licking along her bottom lip, and Jongin gasps in a quiet breath, having to pull back and fill up her protesting lungs.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo whispers, giggling. “Your lips taste nice.”  
  
“I-It’s Baekhyun’s fault,” Jongin stutters out. Even if she’ll have to thank her friend for lending her that Etude House vanilla lip balm, it’s just a habit to blame Baekhyun for everything that happens, and Kyungsoo laughs even louder at Jongin’s pout.  
  
“She did a good job with your makeup, too, or was that one of your other friends?” Kyungsoo asks with a mischievous smile, as if she’s been onto Jongin this whole time.  
  
But Jongin doesn’t want this perfect moment to be ruined by having to talk about the terrible ordeal she had to go through to get here. So instead, she answers Kyungsoo by diving forward and kissing her, arms wrapping around Kyungsoo’s neck as they topple backwards and send the ride spinning into the night.  


  
  



End file.
